Detroit - West Bloomfield or Farmington Hills?

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Forum -> Inquiries & Offers -> Moving/ Relocating

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amother

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 7:11 pm

What is the community like in West Bloomfield or Farmington Hills in Michigan (outside of Detroit). I know the main community in Detroit is Southfield or Oak Park, but I heard there are big chabad's in West Bloomfield and a shul in Farmington Hills. I also heard there is a chabad shul in Royal Oak. I am looking into it for my brother (MO) who is considering moving for work but he doesn't like the area or crowd at YI Southfield or the main oak park/southfield area. He is married with 2 kids and lives on the Upper West Side now.

TIA!

amother

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 7:18 pm

amother wrote:

I would pick WB over Farmington. There is more of a presence. There are a few shuls - Rabbi Jundef (not Chabad) and 2 Chabad shuls in WB. He should be prepared to hike though it's not inevitable.
I don't want to get into this but I am curious about what's up with YI of Southfield. It'll be close to Akiva too.. Make life easier.

amother

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 7:27 pm

amother wrote:

He's a little snobby and the neighborhood doesn't have the "look" he wants. He was planning to move to great neck and wants something like that.

Thanks for your help! Which of the three shuls in WB have the biggest community? Are there other MO families there or is it more traditional/secular?

amother

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 8:52 pm

If that's the kind of community he is looking for, I would recommend The Shul in WB - Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov.

amother

Mon, Jan 27 2014, 9:04 pm

There is another shul, Keter Torah, which is Sefardi. I think they just got a new rav. I have no idea of what things are like there other than that the shul is quite beautiful. All the shuls are at least a mile away from each other.
There are a few things to consider.
Even the affluent people in Detroit keep it lowkey. But inside the houses might be gorgeous.
How far out does he want to move for the aesthetics without going crazy as far as carpooling and play dates?
Does he want an MO rabbi? He's not really going to find it here. The YI rabbis are yeshivish/YU yeshivish. Rabbi Jundef is very yeshivish though by no means trying to remake anyone in his image.

I assume he's not interested in Huntington Woods? Probably too lowkey though on the east side there are big, beautiful houses, and a Chabad (on Woodward). On the west side there's Aish which is technically in Oak Park. There is an MO presence on the west side.

amother

Tue, Jan 28 2014, 8:10 am

One other thing. There are beautiful areas such as Wabeek, Birmingham-Bloomfield Hills. Grosse Pointe too for that matter but there aren't Jews there. There just isn't enough of a critical mass of affluent shomer Shabbos Jews who feel a need to move out there. There are people who definitely could afford to. Some of them are living in houses that have been bumped out, with plain, albeit quality, siding and maybe a few nice windows. That's on the outside. Oh, and a few people I know bought the house next door for a guest house. But they don't seem to unhappy to live on the same blocks as people who got in when it was cheap and are definitely nowhere near them economically.

amother

Tue, Jan 28 2014, 11:14 pm

There is a Chabad type shul in Birmingham. Birmingham-Bloomfield Chai Center/ Rabbi Boruch Cohen.

amother

Tue, Jan 28 2014, 11:23 pm

There is no neighborhood in or near Detroit that is anything like UWS, to my knowledge.
That's why people move here, to get away from all that.

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